not really a project (yet)

[Burnera]

So i had a 1990 subaru legacy wagon that i picked up for $350. It was great and i love subaru's, but i knew it wasn't going to last. I went out looking for a second car with $1400. Since the subaru still ran, i had plenty of time to search for another car. Mostly all i could find was beat up hondas and cars without engines.
I found this e30 in Kansas City for $1300. It ran, rust looked to be minimal, everything important worked. Auto trans shifts like it's brand new.
Sadly i didn't notice that the suspension was totally blown. I thought it was supposed to be a cushy ride, and i didn't really flog it on the test drive.
Anyway, the week i got her:









The front valence was dented, which caused the tire to barely rub on the fender liner on one side. Removed valence, banged it straight, stripped of paint, and primered.



not that ugly....


The hunt for rust. Basically the rear corners need new sheet metal.








You can see the ground through the battery location:


Most useless spare tire ever. No air pressure, completely unevenly worn.


Stripped out the trunk. Hot damn that 'sound insulation' is heavy! Makes me wonder if it's actually a weight ballast. The rust here is purely light surface.


Just this weekend i replaced all the springs/struts with Billstein sports and H&R sports. Dropped the car WAY more than i expected it to. Like the stock rear tire is like .75" from being tucked. Maybe they are race springs? I don't care right now. lol.

Next up is a new head unit, painting that front valence, and wheels + tires.


Notes more for myself...
Money spent on parts:
$135 head unit
$137.52 fixed camber plates
$704.40 bilstein sports + hr sport springs + meyle HD rear tops + standard front tops


other costs:
$50 shop rental time
$50 oil and air filter change
$50 paint supplies

[Matt-B]

not really a project (yet)


hahaha yes it is. good score. check for rust under driver side and passenger side under carpet

[TimKninja]

I wish i had your trunk rust....



Consider yourself lucky.

Nice car tho, Why not ride around in that Lumina?

Planing a 5 speed swap?

[M5wanaB]

I wish i had your trunk rust....



Consider yourself lucky.

Nice car tho, Why not ride around in that Lumina?

Planing a 5 speed swap?

dont put a spare in there, hit a bump and its gonna fall right through. lol, how would you like to be behind a car on the freeway when that happens.

[Burnera]

I wish i had your trunk rust....


Consider yourself lucky.

Nice car tho, Why not ride around in that Lumina?

Planing a 5 speed swap?

The lumina doesn't really run. I don't know why we haven't sold it off yet.

Keeping the auto actually. My knees and ankles just won't put up with a manual. On the up side, if i turbo it, i don't have to deal with losing boost on shifts. .....:???:

[Burnera]

I'll be installing fixed comber plates this week, well if it's sunny out anyway.

To install, i have to push out the press fit studs on the normal top hat. Any recommendations on how to do that?
I'm thinking i'll just undo the three nuts, rotate the stock hat so the studs don't line up with the mount holes anymore, and jack up the car by the control arm.

The proper way would be on a press i know, but that means taking out the spring compressors to get the top hat off, and i'm not going through that again so soon.

[Burnera]

So i got the pioneer head unit, "installed" yesterday. The Pioneer DEH3200.
It's black, takes USB, and it's sorta cheap.

The pioneer unit has a solid red wire for the ACC function on the ignition. Just one wire. The BMW has two wires apparently for that. If those two are joined, and joined to the red wire, the head unit works fine. Except that the 'defrost' button on the dash lights up even when the car is off.
Also, what the hell does the head unit attach to in the dash so it doesn't fall out?

I got the unit functioning and all the speakers wired up correctly at least.
After thinking about it awhile, i think i have the constant-on +12v wire and the intermittent-on +12v wire confused.

edit: Got it working perfectly! Now how to mount the damn thing. The mounting sleeve fits perfect, but there's nothing back there to screw it too. I can't figure out how the stock unit stayed in there either actually, lol.

edit2: got it mounted great and solid. The mounting sleeve has tabs you can bend out to grab the console face. Now the power doesn't work though :rage:
Head unit and the temp-date-hour module thingy next to it don't turn on. All the fuses are fine. No lose end wires hanging out. WTF could it be??